Academie de l'Espée (Girard Thibault d'Anvers, 1630)

Academie de l'Espée is a fencing treatise by Gérard Thibault d'Anvers, a native of Antwerp, written in French and printed at the Elzevier press in Leiden. On the title page, according to Wiktenauer, stands the year 1626, in many copies corrected by hand to 1628, and the colophon gives August 1630. Thibault died in 1627, so he did not live to see the printing finished. The year 1628 is therefore only a handwritten correction, not a printed date. The work consists of two books made up of engraved plates, each followed by a chapter of explanation. The first book has 33 plates, the second 11 instructional plates and two allegorical plates called Emblems, which it does not explain. The second book was left unfinished at the author's death, and according to Wiktenauer he apparently did not write its introduction. The plates show the rapier alone and with a dagger or shield, two-handed swords and firearms, fighting on foot and on horseback. A notice to the reader explains why many figures do not stand on the ground: they are to be imagined as paintings on walls. Wiktenauer classes the treatise among the writings of the Verdadera Destreza school and lists Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza and Luis Pacheco de Narváez as influences. Thibault learned Destreza in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Carranza's home town, where around 1605 he traded in wool. From 1622 he lived in Leiden, studied mathematics at the university and employed sixteen master engravers for the engravings. The work is dedicated to Louis XIII, Maurice of Nassau, Frederick Henry of Orange and George William of Brandenburg. John Michael Greer published an English translation, Academy of the Sword (2006, again in 2017).

Martial arts in this work

Contents

The exposition in Academie de l'Espée proceeds from image to text. Each plate consists of an engraving followed by a chapter analysing its meaning, so the reader first sees the positions and movements of the fencers and only then their verbal description. The first book with 33 plates is complete. The second ends with the eleventh instructional plate and a pair of allegorical Emblems, for which the explanation is missing because the author did not manage to finish the book. Wiktenauer describes the Destreza that the treatise transmits as a Spanish system of rapier fighting based on the circle. Besides the rapier alone and the dagger and the shield, the plates show two-handed swords and firearms, in fighting on foot and on horseback.

Origin

According to Wiktenauer, Thibault's first fencing teacher was Lambert van Someron, active in Antwerp from 1564 to 1584. He learned Destreza in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where around 1605 he worked as a wool merchant. Until 1610 he lived in Amsterdam, around 1611 he won first prize in Rotterdam and demonstrated his system to Maurice of Nassau. In 1615 he appeared at the court in Cleves and in 1622 he settled in Leiden, where he probably began work on the treatise. The printing was protected by privileges, which Wiktenauer lists as follows: from Louis XIII for nine years dated 21 December 1620, from the States General for thirty years from 5 June 1627 and from Emperor Ferdinand II for twelve years from 20 May 1630. Besides the dedications, the front matter carries Latin epigrams.

Editions and translations

According to Wiktenauer, Academie de l'Espée appeared only once before 1800, at the Elzevier press in Leiden in the years 1626 to 1630. The colophon, written in Roman numerals, states printing at the Elzevier press in August 1630. John Michael Greer prepared the English translation under the title Academy of the Sword, published by Chivalry Bookshelf in 2006 and again by Aeon Books in London in 2017. Since 2021 another English translation by Bruce G. Hearns has been in progress on Wiktenauer, still incomplete, with a transcription of the French text by Michael Chidester. Rémy Thomas wrote a thesis on the treatise, Pratiques et apprentissage de l'escrime dans l'Academie de l'espée, at the University of Liège in 2022, and it has not been published.

People and martial arts

• Gérard Thibault d'AnversAuthor
• John Michael GreerTranslator
• Bruce G. HearnsTranslator

Details

Form

Printed book

Editions

• 1630 · FR · Academie de l'Espée · Elzeviers · first edition
• 2006 · EN · Academy of the Sword · Chivalry Bookshelf · translation
• 2017 · EN · Academy of the Sword · Aeon Books · translation